Tag Archives: Telephone Consumer Protection Act

By Melanie Ramey Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a Public Notice seeking comment on a range of issues relevant to its interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), including how the FCC should interpret what constitutes an “automatic telephone dialing system” in the wake of a recent decision by the U.S. Court … Continue Reading

Earlier this week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) lawsuit against General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. (“GDIT”), on the basis that GDIT was immune from suit as a government contractor under what is known as the “Yearsley doctrine.” Craig Cunningham v. GDIT, … Continue Reading

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday issued a long-awaited ruling in a lawsuit challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s interpretations of key terms under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”), holding that the FCC in 2015 had adopted an unreasonably broad definition of the type of calling equipment subject … Continue Reading

Last week, the FCC issued a forfeiture order against Dialing Services, LLC (“Dialing Services”) $2,880,000, finding that Dialing Services made automated calls to wireless phones without prior express consent, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). Dialing Services is a platform that offers automated calling services to its customers, and this Order is … Continue Reading

Yesterday, the FCC released an Enforcement Advisory to remind political campaigns about their obligations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The Advisory did not set forth any new rules for calls and texts; rather, it confirmed existing rules and reminded political campaigns that they are subject to them. The Advisory first confirmed that prerecorded … Continue Reading

In one of the first decisions evaluating Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claims under the FCC’s recent omnibus TCPA order, the Northern District of California dismissed a putative class action lawsuit alleging that AOL violated the TCPA when users of its Instant Messenger service (AIM) sent text messages to incorrect recipients. After the court dismissed … Continue Reading

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the text of its long-awaited order addressing certain aspects of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and related FCC rules. The order addressed a total of 21 petitions seeking “clarification or other actions” regarding the TCPA, principally in connection with automated calls and text messages. Although the … Continue Reading

In an order adopted at Thursday’s Open Meeting, the Federal Communications Commission acted on 23 petitions or other requests for clarification regarding the application of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a federal law that restricts telemarketing and certain other types of calls. The FCC has issued a news release describing yesterday’s order as an effort to … Continue Reading

On June 1, the Northern District of California dismissed a putative TCPA class action against AOL, finding that the plaintiff had failed to allege that AOL utilized an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS), as required to state a cause of action under the TCPA. In dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint in Derby v. AOL, the court … Continue Reading

Last week, a federal judge in the Northern District of California dismissed a putative class action lawsuit under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), ruling that an automated telephone dialing system or “autodialer” is not used when a third party group inviter has provided the number that resulted in the initiation of the automated text … Continue Reading

By Ani Gevorkian Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California issued an opinion regarding the definition of an “Automatic Telephone Dialing System” (“ATDS”) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The opinion follows a small but growing number of cases holding that courts have their own ability to interpret the … Continue Reading

Last week, the FCC issued two TCPA rulings that shed further light on whether and under what circumstances an individual can provide “prior express consent”—or convey such consent—for another in the context of automated or prerecorded informational calls or text messages to mobile phones. One of these rulings came in response to a Petition for … Continue Reading

Earlier today, the FCC placed on public notice two petitions requesting that the agency clarify or forbear from enforcing certain aspects of its new TCPA regulations that went into effect on October 16, 2013. Those regulations, which we summarized here, created, among other things, a new “prior express written consent” requirement for the transmission of … Continue Reading

Last week, I spoke on a panel at the IAPP Privacy Academy about upcoming changes to FCC regulations governing the “prior express consent” requirement for, among other things, autodialed promotional text message and prerecorded call programs under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). These changes will take effect next week, on October 16, 2013. Some … Continue Reading

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